Spicy Chettinadu Style Tomato Rice Recipe

Everybody will be celebrating Pongal today.In Chennai it is holiday season literally.The kids are having a long holiday for nearly 6 days.Having a tough time having the kid at home and keeping her engaged all through the day.Today's recipe is tomato rice,as I told we like to have variety rice often so we try checking for new variety rice recipes.This rice as usual is Amma's recipe.This is a chettinadu style recipe.The original recipe doesn't require any grinding but I puree the tomatoes. The tanginess of the tomato,spiciness of the chilly and flavor of garam masala make this tomato rice very special.

Wishing Everyone a Happy Pongal.

Spicy Tomato Rice Recipe- Ingredients

Tomato - 1 chopped and 3 pureed
Onion - 2 Chopped
Garlic - 10 Sliced fine
Cooked Rice - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly Powder -1 tsp
Coriander - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

To Temper

Oil - 3 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cloves - 3
Elaichi - 1
Green chilly -1
Curry Leaves - 1 spring

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai add the items to temper followed by chopped onions and garlic saute well and add the chopped tomato and all the masala powder and salt.In meantime puree the other 3 tomatoes and add it to the kadai .Close the lid of the kadai let the mix boil till the oil starts floating.
2. After the tomato mix is ready add the cooled rice and mix well and check for seasoning.Serve hot with onion raita or chips.

My Notes:

• This rice is best suited for lunch box as you can make the tomato mix the previous night and store it in the fridge and mix it with the rice in the morning.
• The tomato mix can be used as tomato thokku as such with dosa or chappathi.
• Once the tomato mix is ready you can add ground coconut paste to it and your tomato kurma is ready.
• This tomato mix is handy so you can make it before hand and store it.
• I chopped only one tomato and pureed the other 3 you can add all chopped tomatoes,this makes the dish much tastier but the kid doesnt like the skin of tomatoes in the dish so I purred them.Actually chooped tomatoes cook faster.
• Adjust the spice level to taste.

Thengai Mangai Sadham Recipe

This thengai mangai sadham is one of amma's speciality which is a favourite among my friends.When I saw mangoes in the market I was reminded of this rice and wanted to try it .We love the sweet and sour taste of this rice.It goes well with any spicy veggie or just chips is fine.This rice tastes best when made with half ripe mangoes.My daughter is in favour of any variety rice instead of the same old sambar and rasam daily.We prefer having variety rice atleast once in a week, mostly Fridays is variety rice day in our house.The addition of raisins and cashews add richness to this but weight watchers can skip cashews.I tried this last week and it came out well,do try this.

Mangoes are rich in vitamin C ,thus help in building better immune system.Raw mango is a good source of pectin which gives a good cure for gastro-intestinal disorders.Raisins contribute to bone health,cure anaemia as they are a rich source of calcium,iron.This rice combines the goodness of both mangoes and raisins.

Thengai Mangai Sadham Recipe- Ingredients

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Raw mango - 1 (peeled and grated)
Cooked Rice - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

To Temper

Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Red Chilly - 1
Green chilly -1
cashews - 6 nos
Raisins - 10 nos

Method:

1. Dry roast the grated coconut and transfer it to a plate.In the same kadai heat oil and add the items in the "to temper" list .Now add the grated mangoes and saute till it shrinks,you can now add the turmeric powder and salt and saute it.
2. Add the roasted coconut to the kadai and mix well.Now add the cooled rice and mix everythig well.check for seasoning and serve with any curry or with just chips or appalam.

My Notes:

• This rice is best suited for lunch box,especially for kids who love to nuts and raisins .
• You can also add roasted ground nut in place of cahews or both.
• Raisins add a sweet punch to the rice as against the sour taste of the mango.
• Dry roasting of the coconut brings out a good aroma.
• I would suggest you try this dish with half ripe mangoes for a much better taste.
• You can also use cuury leaves for seasoning.

Methi Roti Recipe

Back after a 2 day visit to vellore for a wedding,had a nice time catching up with relatives and had great food at the wedding.Coming back to the recipe Methi Roti is a healthy way to sneak in greens in your kids lunch box ,so I buy Methi whenever I see fresh Methi in the shop.It is best suited for lunch box as it stays soft for long.Just methi rotis with a cup of curd makes for a filling lunch for kids.This meal I prepared for my daughter who wanted me to post only as full course meal rather than one dish .She enjoyed her lunch of methi roti with channa masala and curd. You can chop the methi leaves if the leaves are big.Next post will be the chana masala which is simple and easy.

Methi Roti Recipe- Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 1 Cup
Methi Leaves - 1 cup (cleaned and Chopped)
Red Chilly Powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water as required
Oil - 1tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai and saute the cleaned and chopped methi along with chilly,turmeric and garam masala powder and salt till it shrinks in quantity.Let it cool.
2. Take wheat flour in a mixing bowl,add the methi mixture and required water to make a soft pilable and non sticky dough.
3. Make lemon sized balls of the dough and roll each ball into thin circles using the rolling pin.Use flour for dusting .Roll the rotis as thin as possible.
4. Heat a tawa on medium heat and place the roti on the tawa and drizzle a little oil (optional),when you see bubbles turn it to the other side and cook till brown spots appear on both the sides.
Now your Methi roti is ready to serve.We had ours with chana masala.You can have it with curd and some pickle for a wholesome meal.

My Notes:

• This roti does not require any resting time.You can go head with rolling the roti as soon as the dough is ready.
• Adding garam masala is optional,but it lends a nice aroma to the roti.